利用树木年轮重建危地马拉的气候

迭戈·庞斯可能拥有这一切. 他开始在危地马拉偏远的山顶进行实地考察, 回报他的国家, 指导下一代学生, 和 — not to be overlooked — drink some of the world’s finest coffee 在 process.

杜的博士候选人 地理与环境学系庞斯将在5月份进行论文答辩. 他的研究将气候变化联系在一起, 咖啡生产和社区参与, a country heavily dependent on subsistence 农业 和 highly vulnerable to climate change.

“作为一个危地马拉人，我对我的国家充满热情，”Pons说. “因为咖啡生产支撑了很多家庭, I feel responsible for trying to bring something back that will help rural communities.”

A 他最近发表的一篇论文 在 美国地理学家协会年鉴 确实是这样吗?. By employing dendroclimatology — the use of tree rings to determine past climate — Pons 和 his colleagues lay the groundwork for providing coffee growers with valuable climate information. 该研究得到了DU的支持, 美国国家科学正规赌博十大平台排行, 美国地理学家协会和国家地理学会.

Guatemala’s population is heavily dependent upon cash crops that are themselves dependent upon the timing 和 quantity of rainfall. 咖啡特别挑剔，需要非常特殊的气候条件. 全国各地缺乏气象站, 特别是在偏远地区, 导致人们对当地气候缺乏了解. Such information is crucial for helping farmers — many of whom live in poverty — grapple with the hotter, 随着地球变暖，危地马拉可能会出现更干燥的天气.

这就是Pons的实地调查的用武之地. 与包括他的导师在内的研究团队合作, 地理学教授马修·泰勒, he has successfully used tree rings to produce a climate record stretching back to the late 17th century. This historic data will serve as a benchmark for assessing present 和 future climate in Guatemala’s mountainous regions.

The researchers accumulated tree ring samples by hiking throughout the mountains in search of elusive, 古老的危地马拉冷杉和山地松树. 从这些树干里, they collected slivers of wood that they analyzed in a lab at the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala. 在那里, they used dendrochronology methods to determine past climate based on properties 在 tree rings.

Along the way, they learned that, in Guatemala, it takes a village to find a tree. Tropical fieldwork is challenging enough even before factoring 在 country’s 23 distinct languages, 精良的不公平现象, 对公共领土的模糊权利, 和 history of indigenous repression that often triggers distrust of outsiders. It was only through reaching out to local community leaders 和 engaging them 在 search for trees that the team’s reconnaissance 和 tree sampling were possible.

This community engagement also provided valuable perspectives sometimes lacking in scientific research. 例如, indigenous Guatemalans in mountainous regions refer to old pine 和 fir trees as “the wise ancient trees,” a description whose symbolism wasn’t lost on researchers searching for arboreal archives of historic climate information.

“我们的科学与他们的信念相符，”Pons说. “Something that I love about this research is incorporating traditional knowledge.”

The next step for Pons is to transform the data into locally relevant climate information 和 communicate it to agricultural communities in a way that directly benefits them. 危地马拉国家咖啡协会, 哪个代表超过90,000年种植, 已经表达了兴趣.

“The goal is to bridge the gap between what we know 和 what we need to do to make communities more resilient to climate change,Pons说。.

泰勒, 谁在拉丁美洲进行了20多年的实地研究, 强调气候变化之间的联系, 农业, 以及该地区的人类迁徙.

“Hundreds of thous和s of people rely on the coffee sector in Guatemala,他说. “如果它因为气候变化而倒闭, we will see many more rural people on the migration road to Guatemala’s cities 和, 除此之外, 到北美.”

“Diego’s research will permit policy makers at all levels to better prepare for climate change 和 its impact on Guatemala’s agricultural sector,泰勒补充道. “This is especially crucial for a country that is so dependent upon 农业.”

至于庞斯，他很快就会拿到杜克大学的博士学位. Having discovered that his enthusiasm for teaching matches his enthusiasm for fieldwork, 他打算留在学术界. At DU, he has worked closely with undergraduates 在 geography department’s dendrochronology lab. He currently mentors students 在 lab at Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, 他在哪里获得的本科学位.

“我真的很喜欢整合年轻学生, 与本科生合作, 把它们带进实验室,他说. “我想让更多人参与这项研究.”

这是DU的核心任务 自然科学与数学学部 是为学生提供前所未有的研究机会. By working alongside distinguished faculty mentors in state-of-the-art facilities, undergraduate 和 graduate students are able to apply their knowledge to research that changes lives 和 challenges ideas.